Michigan

The Threet Transfer Fallout

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of this, let me just say something real quick to the people blasting Steven Threet now that he's officially announced his transfer from Michigan: Lay off the kid.

No, I can't support anyone bailing on U-M, especially if it's over playing time -- "Those who stay will be champions" and all. But I also know that Threet transferred to Michigan when Lloyd Carr was still around, with the intention of competing with Ryan Mallett for playing time in a pro-style offense. Instead, he found himself thrown to the fire in Rich Rodriguez's spread offense.

Threet's not a spread QB, and I say that knowing full well that you're all aware of that already. The situation last season was a mess, all the way around. He struggled a lot and a better fit for the system might have produced another couple wins. Threet gave it everything he had, though, taking an absolute beating. He ran those keeper plays even though he's not a runner, almost always ducking his head at the end and fighting for an extra yard.

Long story short, he did what he could to help Michigan win. It wasn't enough on most weeks, of course, but I have a hard time demeaning him for his efforts. His long run in the waning moments of that epic Wisconsin win will forever be etched in Michigan history. So, I for one wish him the best of luck -- and if he transfers to Eastern, we'll see him again in the 2010 opener.

Now, onto what this means for Michigan.

Obviously, this thins out an already-thin position. You can look around and see some numbers: Nick Sheridan, Justin Feagin, Tate Forcier, Denard Robinson, even David Cone. The problem is that we painfully learned last year how hard it is to run Rodriguez's system without experience in it. Outside of Sheridan -- and maybe Feagin, to a much-lesser extent -- the QB spot is back to where it was before last year.

We can hope that Forcier's early arrival on campus will bridge that gap a little, and Robinson picks things up quickly, but without running the spread in a game, we won't know. So, like him or not, Sheridan's presence just became a lot more important.

Could he be forced to start again? Possibly, depending on the freshmen's progression. If nothing else, he's the guiding force at quarterback -- he has to step up and lead these young guys through the gauntlet, and help them learn this offense.

Of course, it's not like Threet lit the world up when he started last year (he won just one game as the starter), so to assume that there will be some gigantic drop-off is sort of silly. What Forcier and Robinson lack in game experience, they may make up for in versatility. All those QB running plays that went for naught in 2008 may prove very valuable in 2009 -- if nothing else, the playbook can open up.

More than that, this lets Rodriguez stop dancing around his QB issue. He does not have to force Threet, a drop-back style guy, to fit into his spread offense. With Forcier and Robinson he has more prototypical spread guys, so the pieces may simply come together better.

Off-the-field, this is another blow to Rodriguez's Michigan reputation. All the negative recruiting that went on this year regarding his inability to relate to players and his lack of loyalty to his veterans just received some more fuel. Will this transfer kill recruiting? No, of course not, but it won't help.

At least ... unless it helps Michigan land another big QB prospect. The Wolverines will hit the quarterback spot hard in 2010, and now Rodriguez has another scholarship open -- and another spot on the depth chart -- to go get a QB of the future.

Beyond that, this is a wait-and-see situation. Will this clobber Michigan's offense for 2009? Is it a huge locker room loss? It all depends on how the remaining guys fill in, and we won't know that until at least September.